More rest

When I was praying about what to write for this article, I felt God say “Write about rest!” I thought to myself, “I can’t do that. That’s what Autumn wrote about last week!”, then I wondered whether this is something that God really wants to speak to us about! So, here goes…

Rest is very important to God! In fact, it is so important that the eighth commandment God gave Moses was to rest on the Sabbath. There are over 70 verses in the Bible about rest!

I am so challenged by this as I am a busy, ‘doing’ person. I find it difficult to stop and rest and often will find something to do when I should be resting. This also impacts my times with God as He desires us to rest in Him as well as rest our physical bodies. A word was given over the weekend about the importance of rest and I have been thinking about it ever since.

Jesus says in Matthew 11:28 ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.’ How often do we just sit with Him and enjoy His presence? Many of us wrestle with anxiety and worry and yet we are encouraged by Peter to cast all our anxiety on Him, for He cares for us.

We read in Psalm 23 that ‘The Lord is my Shepherd. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul.’ That sounds wonderful to me! A green pasture is not just a quiet, peaceful place to rest. For sheep it is a place where they can find food. Quiet waters quench our thirst and we are refreshed as our spiritual hunger and thirst are satisfied. Does that sound appealing to you? If so, let us try and spend some time away from the TV, phone, computer, tablet, (and everything else that distracts us) this week and just rest! Maybe listen to some worship music and enjoy resting in God’s presence. Who knows? Perhaps God will have something He wants to say to us that He’s been trying to say for a while but we’ve been too busy to hear Him.

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31)